Chair Shots: Potential WWE Raw and Smackdown general managers

By Wayne Carter

Jun 19, 2012 | 1:43 PM

Mick Foley made his return to Raw last night and revealed that past general managers and authority figures will be running Raw and Smackdown on a weekly basis until the WWE Board of Directors comes up with a replacement for the now fired John Laurinaitis.

WWE has had a wealth of authority figures over the years, since the position became en vogue in the late 1990s. Unless the ghost of Jack Tunney (maybe a hologram, a la Tupac?) is going to come back to run Raw, here is a list of the authority figures (sans Foley, Laurinaitis and Vince McMahon) who have run Raw and Smackdown over the years and have a chance to make a comeback over the next few weeks, and my take on each.

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Obvious and excellent choices

Shawn Michaels

HBK is being advertised for the 1000th episode (actually, it's a special appearance by DX, so I assume that means Triple H and Michaels) so they might not want to use him up in the weeks leading up to that. Still, I'll hold out hope that Showstopper is in charge when Raw comes to Laredo, Texas on July 2.

Sgt. Slaughter

If not HBK, who better to run Raw and Smackdown the week of Independence Day than the Sarge? I'm not sure if the GMs will run both show, or if they'll try to get different ones for each show, but I'd practically guarantee Slaughter is in charge of the special live Smackdown July 3.

William Regal

The Englishman made a rare appearance on Raw last week in a cameo when Vince McMahon was talking about his special club. He's already on the roster, so this is practically a gurantee that Regal will be the interim GM of one show.

Bret Hart

Why not? The Hitman didn't have a very long reign as GM -- he was the transition between the guest host format from 2009 to the anonymous GM -- but he still qualifies. And from my interview a few weeks ago (click here) it sounds like he's open to a return and has free time on his hands.

Paul Heyman

He currently has an on-screen role with the company as Brock Lesnar's legal adviser, but he was once the GM of Smackdown. Since he's under contract, this could happen pretty easily, but I don't know how it would fit in with the continuity of the Lesnar-Triple H angle. Then again, it might be perfect for it.

Steve Austin

I'd save the Rattlesnake to run the 1000th episode of Raw. Is there anyone more closely associated with the Raw brand than Stone Cold?

Long shots

Ric Flair

Wooo! This one could be tricky because of WWE's ongoing lawsuit with TNA for allegedly tampering with contacts, including the Nature Boy. He'd be an amazing choice to host any episode of Raw or Smackdown.

Eric Bischoff

Probably the longest of long shots, because he's under contract for TNA, but hey, Christian did show up for Slammiversary. It would be amazing if he were part of the build to Raw, but Vince would want him to do a lot more than Christian did.

Johnathan Coachman

Coach recently gave an interview where he talked about how his association with the WWE initially held him back when he got to ESPN. It'd be nice to see the Coach called back for one night only, but I have my doubts that he would want to do it.

Shane McMahon

Technically, I don't think Shane ever was a full authority figure, but whatever. He left to do his own thing, and I'd really only want to see him back if he was willing to get into the ring again. He might be too old for that now, but Shane always provided a "Holy ****" moment when he got between the ropes.

Sean Morley (Val Venis)

Hello Ladies! Seriously, how awesome would it be to see Val Venis on Raw one more time? Unfortunately, he dropped that gimmick when he became Chief Morley, so even if he did come back, it might not be that exciting.

Safe choices

Teddy Long

Super boring, but how can you not have Long be the GM of Smackdown at least once? In fact, shouldn't he just get his job back already? If they are picking two GMs as Foley implied, I'd expect him to be officially running the blue brand again sooner than a Raw GM is chosen.

Vickie Guerrero

Another member of the active roster, so this one seems like a no brainer. She was better known for her time on Smackdown, so if they do split the GM duties up for a few weeks, she should be put in charge of the blue brand. She could use her power to get Dolph Ziggler another title shot, and if he loses again, he could finally ditch her.

Stephanie McMahon

Could the Billion Dollar Princess and The Game's wife make her return to TV? Her name was dropped in Paul Heyman's promo Monday, and I wouldn't mind seeing Steph grace my HD screen again to address that and book a few matches while she's at it.

Could go either way

Donald Trump

Trump has a good relationship with Vince McMahon, and his name was dropped when the Chairman made his return to WWE a few weeks ago to. Trump is remarkably awkward with a live camera on him, and his WWE appearances have been "eh" at best, but he's well known and draws a lot of attention. WWE likes that.

Celebrity guest host

With a pool of more than 50 celebrities to choose from, WWE might go to this well. If it's Bob Barker or Shaq, call this a win. If it's Jeremy Piven, Cedric the Entertainer or Verne Troyer, Raw might get canceled before its 1000th episode.

Anonymous GM/Michael Cole

Most people wouldn't want to see the laptop again, but I would for one reason. Closure. We never found out who was actually behind the Anonymous GM. Bring it back for one night only and give us the big reveal. But if that isn't going to happen, forget it.

Dear God, no

Mike Adamle

They wouldn't, would they? Arguably the worst general manager in the history of professional wrestling, would the former NFL player and host of American Gladiators come back to make one more Adamle Original, butchering names in the process?